


Voltron: Beyond

by obsessionandstuff



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura and Coran in the background, Angst, Friendship, Galra Keith (Voltron), M/M, Mentions of Shiro and Matt, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-01
Updated: 2017-10-24
Packaged: 2018-12-09 20:25:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 19,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11676453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/obsessionandstuff/pseuds/obsessionandstuff
Summary: Post season two; Shiro is missing, Pidge finds some new info about Matt, Lance and Keith are not having a good time, and Hunk is being a great friend.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fic I've ever written, and I want to give a major thanks to [Hidden_Pineapple](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hidden_Pineapple) for being my beta and my hero in this project.  
> New chapter will be uploaded every week.

##  **Chapter 1**

 

“Lance McClain, you fucking idiot.” 

It had been about two weeks, or 14 quintents according to Pidge, since their fight with Zarkon - since Shiro had disappeared without a trace. The only thing that was left of him was his bayard in the Black Lion.  _ We have searched everywhere for him,  _ Lance thought sorrowfully. _ Or maybe not everywhere, cause the universe is like infinite, how could we search everywhere?  _ They hadn’t even gotten a signal from Shiro’s suit. _ If he’s out there we would have gotten some sort of signal from his tracker, wouldn’t we?  _ Lance sighed out loud. Every day they spent looking for Shiro, Zarkon’s army got bigger, but he didn’t want to be the one to bring up that Shiro might actually be gone. Lance didn’t like the thought of that, but what else were they supposed to do?  _ We are sitting ducks _ .

Then there was Keith. Stubborn as he was, he would never allow them to stop searching.

 

_ “Shiro told me to lead Voltron if… if something were to happen to him.” _

_ “You gotta be kidding me!” Lance burst out.  _

_ The words didn’t sit right with Lance, and he was furious about it. Why would Shiro ask Keith to lead Voltron?  _

_ “Lance, relax buddy, we don’t know-” Hunk started, but Lance cut him off.  _

_ “No, I’m not going to accept this!” _

 

It had sounded a lot harsher than he meant it to. Sure, Keith would do great as their leader. He was already a really important part of the team --  _ he always gets to do the cool stuff -- _ but if he could replace Shiro that easily, how little would it take for the rest of them to be replaced, too?  _ If they don’t think I’m cut out for the team, will they just replace me with someone else?  _ Lance never said that out loud, though. Not even to Hunk, who probably knew more about Lance than he knew he did.

They put all their effort into finding Shiro. He couldn’t have just disappeared like that. Or so they thought. 

Lance sighed again and got up from where he was sitting.  _ More like hiding _ . They had gotten back from another search, without any luck, again. He was used to this by now. Going for search, after search, and in the end; nothing. This time wasn’t any different, but everyone were getting tired. They all missed Shiro, and were worried about him, but it had been two weeks without anything to suggest that he was even out there. 

They had all been really tense coming back after the day’s search, and Allura had warily pointed out that they might not be able to find him any time soon and that they needed to shift their focus elsewhere. Keith had lost it at that. Problem was, Lance had reacted even worse to Keith’s attitude, and kinda stepped in it. Which would be why he was currently hiding from everyone. 

“Lance McClain, you can be a real jackass sometimes,” he said out loud. No one was there to hear him and let him know he was right, but he knew his teammates would agree.

 

_ “We are not going to stop looking for him.” Keith had more or less hissed the words out of his teeth. He looked like a cat; ready to attack at any moment. The rest of them had backed off a bit, and Hunk seemed to be prepared with a soothing comment.  _

_ “I am not suggesting that we stop entirely,” Allura told him; poker-faced and calm, holding her hands up in front of her in defence, “but I think it might be a good idea for us to focus some of our energy on stopping the Galra. We don’t even know what happened to Zarkon, and for all we know, his army could be increasing even as we speak.”  _

_ Lance couldn’t help the feeling of relief that flooded through him the moment Allura said that.  _ I’m not the only one who’s thinking this.

_ “We can’t FORM Voltron without Shiro, how are we supposed to stop the Galra?” Keith practically spat the words at her.  _

_ “Okay, who died and made you the leader of telling us what we can or cannot do?” Lance regretted the words just as he spoke them, but the damage had already been done.  He had had it up to his eyeballs with Keith’s obsession with finding Shiro, but Lance had really stepped in the salad with this one. _

_ “Lance!” Hunk looked at him, shocked.  _

_ “We have tried to find him, and I’m just as worried as you are, but we are supposed to defend the universe here.” He shot out his arms as he spoke.  _

_ “I’m not going to pilot the Black Lion.” Keith said with a low voice.  _

_ “Oh, I’m not saying you should.” Lance had no self-control at this point. Everything just gushed out all at once. “I don’t understand what Shiro was thinking, we won’t last a tick with you as our leader!”  _

_ “So what, you think you can do better?” This time Pidge spoke up. She had been quiet alongside Hunk since they got back. “What exactly are you even implying here, Lance?” She glared at him. He didn’t know how to answer that.  _

A lot better than “shoot first, ask questions later” over here. _ He shot his arms out to the side, but shrugged and put the thought aside. “All I’m saying is that we can’t keep this up, and I’m sure as hell not going to accept this part-time Galra as the leader of Voltron.”  _

_ If Lance had been able to go out of his own body and slap himself in the face, he would have. Keith didn’t say anything. He just glared angrily at him, and Lance swore that if looks could kill, he’d be dead. Keith had walked out after that, and so did Lance. He felt the shocked glances from the rest of them as he walked out, but he didn’t care, he just needed to get out. _

 

“Lance McClain, you fucking idiot.” He said to himself in frustration as he walked further into the castle. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter in honour of the new season of Voltron. There will still be a new chapter uploaded every week.

##  **Chapter 2**

 

Hunk and Pidge sat together in the kitchen. Hunk was poking around in a bowl of food-goo with a fork, while Pidge worked on her computer. After learning that her brother was still alive, she had transferred most of the data she had gathered regarding his possible whereabouts to it, and whenever they weren’t out physically searching for Shiro, she spent all her time looking through everything for more answers. . She hadn’t really found anything new at this point, since she had more or less learned whatever she could from the data she already had gathered, but she was stubborn and would never give up no matter what. Allura and Coran had retreated to the bridge, probably to avoid the human drama that had just occurred, but it was also likely that they had disappeared to figure out a plan for what to do next. 

“Why do you think he said that?” Pidge asked Hunk, after the two of them had been sitting in silence for a while. 

Hunk poked a bit more in his goo. He had known Lance for the better part of his life, and he knew how short tempered he could be at times, especially when he was under a lot of stress. He knew that if there was something he had been bottling up for a while, it never came out in a good way. 

“I don’t think he meant to be cruel about it.” He said after a while, finally taking a bite out of the green goo he had been stirring in for the past varga. “He probably didn’t mean for it to come out the way it did.” 

“Sure sounded like it.” Pidge snorted. 

Hunk thought it over for a while. Then he put down his spoon and sighed. “So, the thing about Lance is that underneath all that I-am-the-king-of-the-world attitude, he is a really good guy. And really humble, even though it might not look like it, at all. Like, he will never in a million…” Hunk stopped to think, “ _ decapheebs  _ admit this, but he’s really sensitive. And, considering how he blew up today, I think there might be more to this than the fact that Shiro chose Keith to lead Voltron.” Pidge didn’t look at Hunk the entire time he spoke, her eyes fixed on the computer screen, nodding occasionally to let him know that she was listening. 

“I just don’t understand why he hates Keith so much. Like I get that there is this whole rivalry thing going on, but isn’t this a bit too much?” She said and looked up at him. 

“Oh, he doesn’t hate him.” Hunk told her, as a matter of factly. 

“Oh yeah? How do you know that?” Pidge tilted her head to the side, which made her upper body form a contour that reminded Hunk of the shape of a croissant. 

“Alright, I’m going to tell you something, but you gotta promise me that you won’t speak a word of this. To anyone, ever. Lance doesn’t even know that I know this.” Hunk said quietly. He suspected he might regret this, but he couldn’t keep quiet for much longer.

Pidge just nodded, and this time her entire attention was directed towards Hunk. 

“Ever since the Garrison, Lance has had the biggest crush on Keith.” Hunk whispered to her. 

“I knew it!” Pidge burst out loud and slammed the palm of her hand on the table. The bowl of food-goo clattered against the surface of the table.

“Yeah, well-- wait, what do you mean you knew, you just said that he hated him?” Hunk was confused, but decided to put it aside and continue. “Anyways, he would of course never admit this. I have known Lance almost my entire life and by now I am 99% sure that the rivalry he’s got going, is just a facade. He keeps it up so that no one would ever suspect anything, but I can tell, and I gotta admit I’m a bit disappointed that he wouldn’t trust me with this.” 

“But what about all the girls he’s constantly drooling after? It’s been literally every alien girl we have encountered.” Pidge pointed out and raised her eyebrow to emphasize her question. “I mean...it’s definitely plausible, really, it is, but -” Her triumphant look was gone, replaced with a confused one.

“Oh, yeah, he’s bisexual. Or panselxual. I’m actually not a 100% sure about that,” Hunk added offhandedly, before she could finish her sentence. 

“That… actually makes a lot of sense,” she said, with a slightly thoughtful look on her face. “But why not just come clean about it? It’s not like any of us would judge him for it.” 

“His tía was kicked out of their home by his abuela for being a lesbian, so I guess you could see his dilemma. Apparently there are still generations of people who are not ready to accept different sexualies yet.” He shrugged as he said that. 

“Err, his what was kicked out by who, now?” 

“His aunt was kicked out by his grandmother.” 

“He  _ told  _ you that?” she asked. 

“Not in as many words, and very nonchalantly, but yeah, he told me that,” Hunk said and shrugged. “He doesn’t always open up that much, but he does tell me things.” Hunk knew that this would be a thing Lance would have a hard time opening up about, and he wished that there was something he could do to help him about it.

* * *

 

Keith was in the training hall, taking out his frustration on the training-gladiator. It was set on a low difficulty, so that he could do some heavy damage without having to worry about taking any. He was so angry and upset, his entire body was shaking as he swung his sword at the gladiator.  _ Stupid Lance! What the hell does he know? We wouldn’t last a tick with him as a leader, either…  _

He growled out loud as he knocked down the gladiator for the fifth time in a row. He then stopped to look at it before he finally let out a long-suppressed scream and made an attempt to lift up the gladiator to throw it across the room, but it was a lot heavier than he’d expected. He let out a growl of frustration as he kicked the gladiator, which did nothing but hurt his toe.  _ Fuck! _ He sank down on his knees. 

“Why, Shiro? Why me?” He said out loud. It was followed by an inevitable silence, and he felt tears wallow up in his eyes. “Why did you leave me again?” He sobbed silently. 

Shiro was the closest thing Keith had to a family, but now he was gone. Again. They didn’t even know if he was alive or not. Again! 

The last time he had disappeared, on the Kerberon Mission, Keith hadn’t handled it well, and it had cost him his spot as a fighter pilot at the Garrison. He had been all alone back then. Now, even amongst his teammates, he still felt so alone. It was stupid, he knew that. Everyone on the team had family they missed. Allura had lost all of hers, Pidge didn’t know the whereabouts of her dad and her brother, and both Hunk and Lance had a family back on earth. Keith didn’t. Keith had had Shiro. And Shiro was a part of their team. Why couldn’t Lance understand that he didn’t want to become the leader of Voltron? None of them were replaceable. Not to Keith.

He took a deep breath and wiped the tears from his face.  _ Get a grip dude. Stop feeling sorry for yourself.  _ He stood up, but just as he did, he collapsed down again in pain. There was a sharp throb that spread through his entire spine and up to his head. He clutched his arms around his head and curled into a fetal position on the floor, groaning through clenched teeth. His head was pounding. It felt like something was beating on the inside of his scull, about to crack it open. He struggled for each breath, like he had just ran a marathon.  _ What...what is…? _ He tried to collect his thoughts, but it was all chaotic. He felt terrified. His heart was pounding more and more rapidly. He shivered and tears were welling up in his eyes because of the pain.  _ Breathe, God damn it.  _ He prayed for someone to find him. Anyone. He didn’t care at this point, he just wanted someone to stop the pain. 


	3. Chapter 3

##  **Chapter 3**

 

Lance opened the door to the training hall, and walked in. The room was empty, except for the training-gladiator lying on the floor. _Looks like Keith forgot to clean up after himself,_ Lance thought and rolled his eyes slightly, then pressed a button next to the door and, with a swooshing sound, the gladiator fell through the floor. He stood and looked at the empty room for a short while, then he exited the training grounds, and started walking through the hallway. He didn’t know where he was going, but he needed to move. He was feeling restless. The whole sitting down and hiding didn’t do it for him in the long run. Walking aimlessly had been the next choice of action.

The halls of the castle still gave him the creeps, and he swore, no matter what Coran said, that it was haunted. The silence gave him goosebumps.

He had walked for a while, when he suddenly heard a thud in the corridor to his right. The sound made him jump. “Please don’t actually be haunted,” he whispered nervously as he went to investigate.

He tip-toed carefully through the corridor. It was a lot darker here than in the rest of the castle. Lance couldn’t really remember having been here before. He walked carefully with his eyes squinted to make out the hallway. His foot caught onto something and he yelped, causing him to jump to catch himself and crash into the wall on the other side --

“Keith! What the heck?!” Keith, who was sitting on the floor across from him, had also been startled by the looks of it, but he quickly folded his arms across his chest, lifted his knees up and looked away from where Lance was standing. _Rude. He could have killed me. What the-?_

Lance stared at Keith in shock. He didn’t know how to react to this. He hadn’t noticed it right away, but now he saw that there was something not quite right with Keith.

“You have bat ears…” he said slowly. Keith just stared down at the floor. “And a tail.” Keith still didn’t say anything, and Lance was too shocked to think of anything to say that wasn’t a comment on the guy’s appearance. “Dude, what the hell happened to you?” Lance finally burst out. “You have BAT ears and a TAIL!”  

“I am aware, Lance.” Keith said quietly, and he still didn’t look up at Lance, eyes remaining fixed at the floor. He shifted his position on the floor, slid down a bit as to not actually sit on the tail he now had and folded his hands between his thighs. Lance only eyed him from where he stood, still shocked.

“Wha-? How… How did this happen, Keith?” Lance said after a while. It didn’t look like Keith was going to answer anytime soon, and to be honest, Lance wasn’t sure if he wanted to know. _How do one grow extra limbs out of the blue? That makes no sense._ “Alright, I’m gonna get Allura.” He said after a while and turned to walk away.

“No!” Keith exclaimed.

When Lance turned back to look at him, he could see that he had tears in his eyes. He looked a lot more vulnerable than Lance had ever seen him before. _At least he didn’t turn purple, though,_ Lance thought to himself.

“Are you crying?” He asked cheekily and grinned slightly as he looked down at him. He hoped he didn’t sound cruel; he just wanted to tease the guy a little. _Play it cool._

“No.” Keith said slightly bothered, but looked away to wipe his face.

 _He’s kinda cute like this,_ Lance thought. He tilted his head to the side. He was glad Keith wasn’t looking, because he caught himself blushing. _Stop it._

“So, you don’t want to tell me what happened, and you don’t want me to get Allura,” Lance summed up, counting on his fingers as he spoke.

“You can’t tell anyone.”

“But why?”

“Don’t you get it? We are fighting the Galra, the enemy, and look at me, Lance! I’m part Galra, I _am_ the enemy!” Keith’s voice broke at the end. He looked like a sad puppy, though at the same time there was a hint of frustration in his voice. Lance kinda felt bad for him. On top of the fact that he felt bad about having been a total asshole to him earlier.

“You’re also part estupido!” Lance proclaimed calmly.

Lance walked over and crouched down next to Keith on the floor, but immediately backed away, almost falling on his ass. He caught himself, _phew,_ and scrambled to his feet.

“Ew, what in the world is that smell? Did this new transformation of yours come with a horrible body odor?”

“I had a pretty long workout before this happened.” Keith said dryly.

“Well, that explains it. You need a shower, dude, you reek.” Lance declared and covered his nose with his hand.

“I can’t go back looking like this,” Keith mumbled, and Lance couldn’t help but roll his eyes. He took a deep breath, removed his jacket and threw it at Keith.

“Put this on. Tuck in your tail and cover your ears with the hoodie,” he told him. “I’ll keep the rest of them stalled until you figure out what to do.” He paused, then added. “And you better fucking wash it afterwards.” He turned and took off.

* * *

 

The door to the kitchen opened and Lance walked in. Pidge barely glanced up from her computer to look at him. He wasn’t wearing his green jacket, which she found a bit odd, but she didn’t think much more about it. The information Hunk had shared with her earlier made her jittery with questions she wanted to ask Lance. She couldn’t do that though; she had promised not to. _This is too intriguing!_

“Hey.” Hunk said as Lance got closer to the table. “Where have you been?” he asked curiously, with a hint of concern in his voice.

“Nowhere.” Lance replied very quickly. “Just walking around in the castle.”

 _Liar,_ Pidge thought. She wanted to say something snarky, but brushed it off instead. _I can keep a secret_ . _I pretended to be a boy for a year, and these guys still think I actually need to wear glasses._ Regardless, she still wanted to out Lance on this one - maybe just to see the look on his face. 

A noise on her computer caught her attention and interrupted her trail of thoughts. “Holy quiznack!” she cursed under her breath as she realised what it was that she saw on the screen. She grabbed her computer and bolted out of her seat. “I gotta find Allura!” she said as she hurried out of the kitchen, barely acknowledging Lance shouting after her: “Hey, what’s going on?” She didn’t reply, she just kept going. _Matt, s_ he thought. Her heart was beating in sync with her steps. _I found you!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Galra Keith is inspired by [this gif](https://crossroadart-seabear.tumblr.com/image/158985390784) by [CrossRoad Art - Pettigrew](https://crossroadart-seabear.tumblr.com) on Tumblr. Take a look, their art is amazing!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last time I linked a gif I used as inspiration for Keith, and the lovely person who made it drew a picture of Keith from this story. It is really amazing! You can take a look a the picture [here](https://crossroadart-seabear.tumblr.com/image/164023893759) and you should also check out the artist [here](https://crossroadart-seabear.tumblr.com) if you already haven't done that.

##  **Chapter 4**

 

 _Stupid Allura. She might have been the Princess of Altea, but she’s no princess of mine._ Pidge was sneaking out of her room wearing her suit. She had calculated from her teammates’ average sleeping pattern that the coast would be clear enough for her to make it to one of the pods without getting noticed, but she still had to be quiet just in case. Pidge was angry as she made her way to the pod room, but still calm and collected. She needed to go, but she couldn’t do that if she was bouncing off the walls with fury. She had retreated to her room to cool down after talking with Allura about her findings, which to Pidge’s disappointment, hadn’t gone too well. In fact, it hadn’t gone well at all.

 

_“I’m sorry, Pidge, but the information you have is too vague for us to take such a major risk,” Allura said, with an apologetic look on her face. “We’ve already spent much valuable time searching for Shiro, we have to start making plans to stop the Galra.”_

_“But according to my findings, he might be at a Galra station - we could kill two birds with one stone.” Pidge pleaded. She got a weird look from Coran. “It’s just an expression.” She added, before he got the chance to ask._

_“I’m sorry, Pidge.” Allura said again. “I cannot allow a risk like this, especially when we have no way of forming Voltron.”_

 

Pidge hadn’t said much after that. Knowing the Princess, she wrote it off as a lost cause. That didn’t mean she was going to give up and just do nothing. She had gathered some essentials for a short mission, then she had waited until she could sneak out without anyone noticing her. Taking her Lion would draw too much attention, so she decided on borrowing one of the pods from the castle. _Borrowing without permission, but with all intentions on returning it, so it won't be considered stealing._

She tip-toed through the hallways that led to the hangar. She looked around as she walked, hoping that she wouldn’t bump into anyone going for a midnight-stroll.

* * *

 

Hunk was in his room, trying to get some sleep, when Lance barged in.

“Are you up, Hunk?” Lance asked quietly. As quietly as it was possible for him to be, that is.

“Not exactly.” Hunk grunted. “Don’t you know how to knock?”

Lance stopped for a while like he was taking a moment to think about that, then he knocked on the inside of the door. He was in fact inside of the room already, and the door was closed behind him. _Really?_ Hunk only rolled his eyes and sat up in his bed. “What’s up, buddy?”

“So, you remember how I followed after Pidge when she suddenly ran out on us to find out what the hell was going on, right?” Lance asked, being more restless than usual.

“Yes?” Hunk answered, as if Lance had accused him of amnesia. “Does the fact that you barged into my room when I was trying to sleep mean that you found something?”

“Yes,” Lance answered, looking warily at Hunk as if he was unsure if he should continue or not.

“Go on.” Hunk said calmly. He had been a bit snarky, and it wasn’t all that weird that Lance had been hesitant.

“Apparently, she found some information on where Matt might be, and like, that would be amazing right, for her to finally be able to find him, but then Allura was like, ‘no’, just, blunt out rejected her, what kind of answer is that?” Lance was rambling, but Hunk let him continue without disturbing him. _He’ll get to the point eventually._ “So I was standing there, hiding of course, major stealth skills, I tell you, but then Pidge just left, without arguing any further to make Allura agree to go find him, and do you know what I think?”

Before Lance managed to take a breath after that, Hunk asked: “That Pidge is going to go find him on her own?”

“No, that Pidge is going to- yes, that.” Lance took a deep breath. He wasn’t usually one to get so worked up about something that wasn’t of his own interest, but being a part of a Voltron had taught them all a thing or two about being a part of a team. Lance cared a lot about everyone, Hunk knew that, but the fact that he would go out of his way like this for someone else made Hunk kind of proud in a way.

“So, what are you saying?” Hunk questioned and got out of the bed. “Do we go after her?”

“That is exactly what I’m saying. We go get Keith, and then we all go to find Matt.” Lance spoke, then got unusually still.

“Lance?” Hunk asked. “Please tell me you didn’t get into another fight with Keith for no reason.”

Lance gave him a look that was meant to show that he was offended, but Hunk raised an eyebrow at him to emphasise his accusation. _Whatever this is, it better be good._

“So,” he started after a while, and scratched the side of his neck, “before we go ahead with this mission or whatever we’re going to call it, I need to tell you something about Keith.”

Hunk stared at him. _Holy quiznack, he’s coming out? Now? Could he?_ “Alright,” he said as calmly as he could.

“You know the whole, him being part Galra?” Lance said carefully.

 _What?_ “Er, it’s not like I have forgotten, why?”

“Well, turns out it’s not something we’re likely to forget, either.” Lance scratched the back of his head. “He’s got bat ears and a tail now.” The last part came out so nonchalantly that Hunk just stared at him expecting it to be a joke. _What?_

“Wa- wa- wait, what?” Hunk asked and got out of bed. “He’s turning Galra? Like full Galra?”

“He’s not purple, if that’s what you’re asking.” Lance informed him.

“Wow, I was not expecting you to tell me _this._ ”

“What do you mean expecting me to tell you _this_ ?” Lance asked and made a hand gesture in front of him, followed by him placing his hands on his hips like an angry mum. _Crap._ “What were you _expecting_ me to tell you?”

“Well, I- err, not Galra Keith, that’s for sure.” _Nailed it._ “I mean, we all know Keith is Galra, just not, you know, this kind of Galra.”

“Yeah, anyways, I need you to keep a lookout for Pidge, while I try to convince ‘this kind of Galra’ to come with us.” Lance said and headed for the door.

“Yeah, you do that.” Hunk mumbled back at him. “Also, what am I keeping a lookout for?”

“Just let me know when she leaves her room.” Then Lance left.

* * *

 

Lance stopped outside of Keith’s room. _Should I knock?_ He wasn’t quite sure about how to do this. It was different with Hunk. He was his best friend after all, but he couldn’t just barge in here. _He might not let me in if I just knock. I’m not exactly his favourite person at the moment._ He sighed, and decided to do both. His heart was pounding. Both from the excitement of going on a secret mission, but also because he felt nervous about talking to Keith. _Get a grip, dude. Focus on the mission._ He knocked lightly on the door, then opened it and walked in.

Keith was sitting on the floor, back against the wall, knees pulled up against his chest and resting his chin on top of them. His ear twisted slightly, so Lance guessed he must have noticed the fact that he had entered the room, but he made no effort to look up at him. He was mumbling something over and over, sounding like “Patience yields focus.” _Whatever that means_.

“You know that works the other way around, right?” Lance said, leaning on the wall next to where Keith was sitting.

“What do you mean?” Keith asked, uninterested, not looking at Lance.

“You gotta have focus to be patient. It’s like a circle.” Lance answered, then he grinned sluggishly. “It’s like the circle of life.” _I am a genius._

Keith lifted his head and looked up at him in confusion.

“You know, the wheel of fortune? The leap of faith? Elton John?” Lance stared down at him, utterly distraught when he realized that Keith had no idea what he was talking about. “Dios Mio, your childhood must have been horrible!”

Keith shrugged. “You’re not wrong.” Then he placed his head on top of his knees again.

“So, Pidge is going on a rogue mission to find Matt, do you want to come?” Lance realised that he sounded way too nonchalant, and he should probably have mentioned why she was going on a rogue mission, as well. _Great job, sharpshooter. Well done._

Keith stood up from the floor in a quick movement that made Lance take a step back. “So what, we can go look for Matt, but not Shiro?” he asked angrily.

“She apparently found some information on where he might be located, but Allura said it was too risky, and knowing Pidge, she is definitely going to go look for him on her own,” Lance explained.

Keith didn’t answer. He was standing with his back against Lance, so he wasn’t able to read his expression. He could tell that Keith was upset, and he wished he could say something that would sound remotely comforting, but his mind was completely blank. Besides, it wasn’t like Lance had been doing too well with mindless speaking in the first place.

“Listen,” he finally said after thinking about it for while. “I know it sucks a lot more for you than for the rest of us that Shiro is gone, but-”

“Yeah, what the hell do you know?” Keith asked spitefully, still not turning around.

“He’s like a brother to you. I get it. I have several of them on Earth.” Lance swallowed. Just thinking about it gave him a lump in his throat. “Pidge has a brother lost in space too, and, you know, since we might have an idea where he is, it could be worth looking into.” He took a deep breath. “And since Shiro decided to crown you el Capitán del Voltron, you should probably come too.” Lance was surprised by his own ability to be this calm. He was basically quivering on the inside, and the maturity of his words shocked him.

Keith seemed to notice too, and finally turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow to question him about it.

“What?” Lance said. He felt his heart skip a beat when Keith looked at him. _Stop it._

“You sound funny, what’s wrong with you?” Keith said, being pretty straightforward about it.

“What do you mean?” Lance asked, but Keith just shook his head and his expression softened a bit.

“I can’t go,” he said after a short pause.

“What? Why?” Lance was getting pretty stressed out by this entire situation. _She might leave any minute. Hunk better make sure to warn us._

“I can’t go out like this.” Keith pointed to his head. His ears flopped a bit.

 _That’s adorable,_ Lance caught himself thinking, feeling his face becoming slightly flushed. “Hunk didn’t really care too much about it.” Lance said, trying to sound more worked up than flustered.

“You told him?!”  

“How else would he find out?” Lance pointed out. “Besides, were you gonna hang out here and be emo until you died? Someone would find out eventually.”

Keith didn’t say anything, he just glared at Lance. Lance chuckled, because the bat ears laid flat like a pissed off cat. Before Lance had the chance to point that out, someone entered the door.

“Sorry to just barge in, but I thought you might want to know that Pidge is on the move.” Hunk said, standing in the doorway.

“Alright, let’s go then.” Lance said and looked towards Keith for confirmation. To Lance’s relief Keith nodded.

“Aww, you look so cute with the ears.” Hunk grinned at Keith.

“That’s it, I’m not leaving.” Keith crossed his arms.

“Keith, no!”


	5. Chapter 5

##  **Chapter 5**

 

Pidge suddenly heard a noise behind her as she was about to climb into one of the pods on the ship. She jumped around into a karate stance only to find Lance, Hunk and...Keith? standing behind her. Lance lifted his hands up apologetically. “Sorry, tiny ninja,” he said, then smirked a tiny bit. Probably enjoying the moment.

“Lance, what the hell are you guys doing here?” Pidge asked. _They’re going to ruin everything!_ She gritted her teeth.

“Oh, come on, Gunderson, did you really think we were going to let you go look for your brother on your own?” He grinned in amusement. _How does he even know that? Oh, that sneaky asshole._

Pidge sighed. “I’m guessing you’re aware of the fact that this might be a dead end?”

The gang did a mix of nodding and shrugging.

“And you’re still planning to tag along?”

“We’re a team, right?” Hunk pointed out. “Besides, what would you do without us, huh? Admit it, Pidge, you love having us around.”

Pidge raised an eyebrow at him. “Some of you, at least.” She looked at Lance and grinned sluggishly.

“What the heck, Pidge? Here I am, offering my help to you on your epic quest to save your brother, and this is how you thank me?” He crossed his arms, pouting.

Pidge couldn’t help but grin at Lance’s childishness. “Thank you, Lance. I really appreciate your nobleness.” She hesitated for a moment, glancing behind Lance and Hunk. “So, is anyone going to address the elephant in the room?” She pointed her hand towards Keith.

“I, uh-, well, you know.” Keith stuttered.

“He’s turning Galra,” Hunk explained.

“I’m not _turning_ Galra!” Keith exclaimed. “Per-say, I’m just-”

“Becoming more Galra than he used to be.” Hunk continued, for which Keith shot an angry glare at him. “What? You were taking forever.”

Lance chuckled a bit, probably at Hunk’s ability to just blurt out things in these kinds of situations. Pidge smiled at them, then looked over at Keith. He looked worried. She understood that. She wondered if Allura knew yet. She wasn’t necessarily going to take it too well. _It’s still Keith, though._ She flashed a confident grin at him. “Don’t be such a wuss about it. No one will think of you as any more Galra. You kinda just look like a sad puppy.”  

Keith glared at her, face turning red. Then he turned towards Lance. “I’m going back,” he said through his teeth.

“Come on, Keith, she’s just teasing you.” Lance sounded distraught, like it wasn’t the first time he had to convince Keith to come with them. She was pleased to see that they weren’t fighting, though. “Besides, we can’t go without el Capitán.”

“Stop calling me that!” Keith hissed, then threw his hands in the air in defeat. “I’ll go. We’re going. Let’s go find Pidge’s brother.”

“Great!” Pidge grinned nervously. _This could go really well or extremely horrible._

“Lead the way, Gunderson!” Lance said, doing a mock-salute at her. She stuck her tongue out at him.  

“Yeah, let’s do this!” Hunk added as well, sounding more confident than he looked.

Pidge grinned at them, and continued towards one of the closest ships, since the pods in the castle were too small for all of them to fit.

* * *

 

The ride to their destination was quiet. Pidge’s coordinates were leading them to a Galra fleet in the middle of nowhere. No planets, apparently, just a bunch of asteroids. Lance felt like the trip was taking forever, and was relieved when the tracking system finally showed that they were closing in on the fleet.

“So what’s the plan, Gunderson?” he asked.

“Sneak in and look for Matt, obviously.” She replied as a matter of factly. “If it turns out he’s not there… We’re still going to take a look around and find as much as we can on him and where he might be.”

A silence fell upon the team.

“Listen,” she said after a moment. “I know things have been off since Shiro disappeared, and I know we should still look for him, and at the same time save the universe and all that.” She paused and they all looked at her, waiting. “I really appreciate that you’re coming with me.”

“Aw, Pidge, I knew you loved us.” Lance grinned.

“Don’t push me, Lance, this is the closest thing to a heart-to-heart you’ll ever get.”

“Of course we were going to go with you, Pidge.” Hunk cut in, probably hindering a murder, which Lance was grateful for. “We’re a team, right? I’m pretty sure Shiro would want us to keep up the team spirit.”

A new silence fell upon them. Lance shot a quick glance towards Keith, who hadn’t said anything since they boarded the ship. He squirmed a bit, because apparently the others had turned towards him as well. He looked rather uncomfortable with that, but shrugged, and gave a nonchalant: “I’m sure you’re right, Hunk.” It seemed forced, but they all smiled at it, leaving a lighter tone in the ship as they flew towards the Galra fleet up ahead.


	6. Chapter 6

##  **Chapter 6**

 

Pidge was stressed. Her entire being was tense. 

They had managed to get into the fleet alright, thanks to the fact that she had installed the cloaking shield from the Green Lion on most of the ships in the castle, including this one. As a matter of fact, it hadn’t been a problem at all. There were no alarms going off or anything, and this worried Pidge a lot. Lance had told her that she was just being paranoid, but she wasn’t so sure. It would have been a bliss if everything went smoothly, but knowing their luck, something was going to go wrong. Very wrong. 

She didn’t have the time to linger on it. They were inside the fleet, and they had to move swiftly. Hunk had decided to stay behind to keep an eye on the ship.

For some reason the fleet seemed abandoned. They didn’t stumble upon any Galra soldiers at all.  _ This doesn’t seem right,  _ Pidge thought.  _ Why would there be an entire Galra fleet abandoned in the middle of nowhere? _

“Maybe the fleet is abandoned?” Lance suggested just as she thought the latter. “Are you sure these were the right coordinates?” 

“Positive.” Pidge replied quietly. “It’s so quiet here, it’s creepy.” 

“Maybe it’s haunted,” Keith said mockingly. 

“Don’t you even get started, I will throw you off this fleet.” Lance hissed at him. 

Before Pidge got the chance to hush on the two of them, Hunk called on the com asking for an update. 

“Nothing yet, it seems like whoever was supposed to be on the fleet isn’t here anymore.” Lance told him. 

“No one has come around the ship, either,” Hunk said. “What should we do?” 

“We still have to find out if the information I got was true or not,” Pidge put in. “There might not be anyone here now, but Matt might have been here.”

“We can’t keep walking aimlessly like this,” Keith said. 

“Uhm, guys,” Lance put his hand up. “I have an idea.”

“Is it a good idea?” Pidge asked smugly and arched an eyebrow towards him as she spoke. Lance stuck his tongue out at her.

“Probably not, but hear me out. I say we split up and take a look around. We might be able to find something more efficiently that way.” 

“Because that always ends well in horror films,” Hunk mumbled in the com. 

“You want to find something, Pidge, but we can’t do it while standing around here like a bunch of losers,” Lance said bluntly, ignoring Hunk’s horror film comment. 

“Speak for yourself,” Keith said just as bluntly in return, to which Lance just glared at him for a tick, before continuing. 

“As I said, let’s split up, take a quick look around and meet back at the ship in, er, half a varga.” 

Pidge and Keith exchanged looks, and what she could tell from him, they both agreed on the fact that they didn’t have a better plan for the time being. In unison, they looked back at Lance and nodded. Lance grinned, obviously pleased with himself.  _ Dork. _

* * *

 

Splitting up might not have been as great as Lance had anticipated. In his defence, it had sounded a lot better in his head. The corridors of the fleet were completely abandoned, and  _ curse Keith and his stupid comment about the ship being haunted.  _

Someone had been here not too long ago, but whoever it was must have packed up and left in a hurry. 

Lance continued sneaking around with his bayard at hand. There wasn’t a single person to be seen.  _ Nothing. Nada. _ He sighed out loud and contacted the others on the com. “Is the fleet more exciting on your end?” he asked dryly. 

“Nothing so far,” Hunk replied, and Lance was certain that he heard a yawn on the other end of the com. “What about you, Keith?” 

“Nothing but empty halls.” Keith seemed just as enthusiastic as the rest of them. “Pidge?” 

There was no answer. 

“Pidge?” Lance tried, and got a quiet “shh” from the other end. 

“I think I hit jackpot. Two Galras up ahead, but they seem to be alone.” Pidge whispered quietly, almost too quiet for Lance to hear.

“What are you going to do?” Hunk asked warily. “Please don’t do anything stupid.” 

“I’m just gonna take a look at what they’re doing. It’ll be-” A loud bang came through the com and Lance froze mid-step.

“Pidge!” the team shouted. Lance turned on his heel and darted back the way he came. 

“Hunk, can you get to her position?” He knew Hunk would reach her faster than both him and Keith, since Pidge had taken the entrance closest to the ship.  _ Please let her be alright. _

“Already on it,” Hunk replied, and the sound of running came as an echo in the com. 

Lance didn’t bother asking Keith; he already knew he would be on his way. As he ran, he could hear the rapid breathing from his team members on the other side of the com. However, it worried him that he could only hear two of them.  _ We’re coming for you, Pidge! _

He came to an intersection; stepped to turn left, and yelped as he almost collided into Keith. 

“Again? Man, are you trying to kill me?” Lance exclaimed. 

“Not yet,” Keith replied dryly. “Let’s go.” 

_ That’s it. I’m sleeping with one eye open from now on. _

They both hurried through the rest of the corridors, but without ever running into Hunk. “Are we lost?” Lance asked as they sprinted on. 

“Of course not. Why would you think that?” Keith sounded offended. 

“Because we haven’t caught up with anyone yet.” Lance put on his best matter-of-factly voice, trying to not lose his breath at the same time. 

“I found her!” Hunk shouted on the com. “Where are you guys, I need backup!” 

“We’re on our way, Hunk!” Lance yelled back at him, then turned to Keith and hissed: “I can’t believe you got us lost.” 

“We’re not lost!” Keith hissed back at him. “Look, back there, I remember that hallway.” 

“I hope you’re right, man,” Lance said and they both sprinted off again. 

He was right. As they turned the next corner, they found Hunk fighting off Galra. There weren’t many; in fact, there were only 5, but Hunk was carrying Pidge and struggling to keep them at bay. Lance activated his bayard and started shooting at the Galra, while Keith activated his own and swung the sword at the closest one. It created an opening for Hunk to get Pidge away from the fight, and as Keith jabbed the back of his sword in the head of the Galra he was fighting, Lance went forward to give them cover. 

“We need to get her out of here,” Lance shouted at him, as he continued shooting at the Galra that came running towards him. 

“They’ve blocked the way to the ship, we have to find another way out!” Hunk replied, avoiding an attack from the side. 

“I saw an escape pod earlier, we could try that one!” Keith told them, and knocked out his opponent, which gave them all a clearing to run for it.  

* * *

 

They reached the escape pod and entered it with ease, only to find it broken on the inside -- pressing the button next to the door made it give a weird noise, but it didn’t close or move at all. 

“I guess now we know why the Galra on this ship never left,” Keith muttered to himself.  _ What the hell do we do now?  _ He thought at the same time as Hunk said: “What are we going to do?” His voice sounded just as panicked as Keith felt. 

“The door might not close from here, but it might from the other side,” Lance said abruptly, and sprinted out the door. 

“Lance, don’t!” Hunk shouted after him, but he was long gone. 

“Lance, get back, you’re gonna get yourself killed!” Keith yelled through the com, hoping Lance would hear him. 

“Hate to break it to you, Samurai, but I think it might be a little late for that,” Lance replied dryly, slightly out of breath. “This door is only gonna close from one side, and it sure as hell isn’t yours.” 

The pod door closed and left an empty silence.  _ No…! _

“Lance, don’t be dumb, we’ll find another way!” Hunk said desperately, now through the com as well. 

“I’m sorry, buddy.” 

“Don’t-” Hunk started, but Lance cut him off. 

“Hey, Keith, you know you gotta lead the team on your own.” Lance sighed through the com. “Shiro was right, you’re the one to do it. Of course you are. You’re basically perfect at everything you do.” Lance laughed lightly. 

“Don’t say that! Just...why are you doing this?” Keith said, but his voice failed him halfway through. He was struggling to speak through the lump that had formed in his throat.

“Don’t worry, I’m just tossing out some nonessential weight.” Lance said jokingly. “Keith, I-” Static. Then the pod launched. 

“Lance!” Hunk screamed, but there was no response. 

It felt like something tightened in Keith’s chest and he couldn’t breathe. Everything was happening in slow motion. The commotion around him lost all volume, leaving him with a ringing sound in his ears. Keith fell to his knees. Everything around him was becoming blurry. He barely recognized Hunk’s sobs from beside him as the pod moved further away from the fleet.


	7. Chapter 7

##  **Chapter 7**

 

Lance was dizzy. His head was pounding like crazy. _What happened?_ He thought as he carefully tried to open his eyes. He blinked a couple of times. _Oh,_ he realised. The pod had launched and he’d been knocked out by what he could only assume was a blow to the head. _But where am I?_ The room, or whatever it was, was so dark, he couldn’t see anything. He tried to move, but his hands were locked behind his back and there was a clattering noise, as if there were chains tied around his hands. He tried to feel for what was behind him, but all he could touch was some sort of rugged surface. From what his imagination could tell him, he had been chained to a wall. He tried shifting his weight a bit, but he couldn’t budge without hurting his wrists. The floor surface was cold like metal, and really, really hard. It seemed similar to the wall behind him. His entire body was aching from lying on it, feeling like he had been banged up pretty bad. His legs were free to move, though, but that didn’t really help him much. _Great,_ he thought. He’d been the hero, he’d done the honorable sacrifice. _Why couldn’t I have just died, like in the movies._

He sighed heavily, which hurt a lot at the bottom of his ribcage. He gritted his teeth in pain. He wasn’t muzzled, so he would be free to call out for help.  _ If they let me have the chance to call for help, it must mean no one is going to hear me scream. I have seen a horror film like this before.  _ Lance blinked. His eyes were getting somewhat used to the dark, not that it mattered anyway. There was nothing in the room to see. It was just small, with bare walls, nothing else, nada. It felt like a prison cell. 

He tried to make his eyes focus, but that only made his head hurt even worse and he felt slightly nauseous.  _ Oh no… this is not gonna end well for me. _

* * *

 

Keith walked towards his room. Everything seemed really hazy. He felt numb, and his body was going on autopilot. Allura had been angry when they had returned.  _ Of course she would be. _ Not only had they gone on a mission she didn’t agree on, but they had lost another paladin. Another teammate. Another friend. Keith felt more lost now, than he ever had before. 

_“How could you be so reckless?”_ Allura had yelled at them. A question none of them had replied to. She was right; they _had_ been reckless.

Luckily for them, the pod they took from the fleet had a tracer. Coran was working on finding the return signal, but hacking into the Galra computer system was taking longer than expected. Keith knew that if Pidge had been able to help, they would have figured it out a lot quicker -- but due to her head injury, she was in one of the healing pods and would be out cold for a while. 

Keith sighed and opened the door to his room. He walked in, closed it behind him, and slowly changed out of his suit. He sat down on the bed, with his elbows resting on his knees and placed his head in his hands. He wanted to scream, or cry, but he just sat there.  _ How could I have let this happen? Shiro was dead wrong assigning me to be the leader of this team. I can’t even keep my teammates safe. I...  _

He sat up and folded his arms around his body, just staring out in the room. Something caught his attention.  _ The jacket.  _ He got up and walked across the room, picking it up as he sat down on the floor with his back leaned to the wall. He just held it in his lap. There was an ache in his chest.  _ Stupid Lance. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.  _ Tears started to well up in his eyes.  _ The weight was never nonessential. _

* * *

 

_ How could this go so wrong?  _ Hunk was stationed in the kitchen. He sat on the floor and looked at the oven in front of him. Making food always made him feel better, but he wasn’t feeling it. None of it felt right. He had been crying the entire time he had been sitting there. Now he just felt empty.  _ Why would he do that? _ He  _ knew _ Lance was the heroic type, but a sacrifice?  _ Why would he do that?  _

Someone walked into the kitchen. Hunk didn’t bother to look for who it was. “Do you mind if I join you?” He looked up. Allura stood beside him, looking down with a sympathetic smile. He nodded and she sat down next to him. He didn’t feel like talking, but he didn’t mind the company. 

“Pidge has recovered perfectly,” she told him. “She is helping Coran trace the ship. With both of them looking into it, they will find it in no time, don’t you think?” There was something in her voice that puzzled him. Her words were positive, her voice sounded positive, but it just seemed forced. He looked over at her and thought she seemed troubled. 

“This situation is just horrid,” she said quietly. “Shiro disappeared, and now Lance has gone missing as well. I thought as the Princess of Altea I would be able to keep the Paladins of Voltron safe, but-” Her voice was breaking a little as she spoke. “I’m sorry to place this on you, Hunk, I’m sure this must be awful for you. I just don’t want to lose my family again.” She wiped away a tear at the corner of her eye, then let out a deep sigh. _Oh._

They sat like that in silence for quite a while. Then Allura spoke again. “I meant to ask, what exactly happened to Keith?” 

Hunk shrugged. “He is turning Galra, apparently. I mean, not entirely, it’s just the ears and the tail for now, but-” 

“He has a tail?” Allura sounded shocked. It didn’t surprise Hunk that much, because she couldn’t have seen it since he had hid it somewhere in the suit. He didn’t feel like going into detail on it though, so he just nodded. 

“I suppose that might take a while to get used to,” she said after a moment of silence. 

“At least he didn’t turn purple.” Hunk responded offhandedly. “I think he looks kind of cute with the ears though.” 

Allura chuckled in response, then hesitated. “We’ll find Lance,” she said eventually. “I know I said that with Shiro, but I still have hope that he is out there. We’ll find him. We’ll find Lance, and we’ll find Shiro. We’ll find them both. I have faith in the Paladins of Voltron.” 

Hunk nodded. He hoped that she was right.  _ She has to be. Lance is a lot tougher than he gets credit for. He’ll be alright. He better be alright.  _ Then he started crying again. He placed his face in his hands to cover it up, as Allura placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

* * *

 

Lance was laying in the dark. His head hurt. His wrists hurt. His entire body was aching. He didn’t know how long he had been down on that metal floor. He had no recollection of time, whatsoever. He had passed out a couple of times, and everytime he woke up it was with a throbbing headache. No one had come by. Not that he could recall at least. Whoever had placed him in this God forsaken cell, or whatever it was supposed to be, didn’t bother to check on him, or feed him, or bring him any kinds of fluid. Pidge had said at some point that a human can live without water for about three days.  _ How long with a concussion though? Will that even matter? Still… how long I have been here? _

A lot of thoughts were spinning in his head. It didn’t help on his headache, and it didn’t help on his hope for surviving.  _ How long has it been? Are they looking for me? Do they even know that I’m alive? Do they even care? Would it even matter if I died here?  _ His thought went darker and darker as he lay there. He wanted to scream, but what good would it do?

He thought of Keith.  _ Of all people, why did it have to be you?  _ He wondered if Keith had heard him, before he had been knocked out.  _ Do you still think that I hate you?  _ Silent tears flowed down his cheeks and dripped onto the floor.  _ Would it even matter if you knew? It’s not like you’d care that I’m going to die either way…  _

Lance passed out again. This time, for a long while. 


	8. Chapter 8

##  **Chapter 8**

 

Pidge and Coran were systematically running through all the methods they knew for making the Galra fleet ping back the signal they needed to locate it. Their systems were completely different from the Altean computers, and she was tired. The fact that their  efforts had yielded nothing so far did not lift her spirits. They couldn’t keep this going for much longer, but Pidge didn’t want to give up just yet; after all, they had a way to find Lance. She hadn’t found her brother on that ship, but she sure has hell didn’t plan on losing anyone else, especially not when they’d already lost Shiro. 

“You should get some rest.” Coran looked over at her with worry in his eyes. “I’ll keep going in your absence.” 

“I can’t. The guys are counting on me to find him. I can’t give up now,” Pidge told him. She knew Coran meant well, but there was no way she could stop now.

“You’re not giving up by getting some much needed rest,” he protested. 

“I got enough rest in the healing pod.” 

“The healing pod does not replace sleep, Pidge, and you will be of no help to your friends if you fall asleep on the rescue mission.” 

Pidge didn’t answer. She knew he was right, but she didn’t feel good about it.

“I’ll keep going, and I promise to wake you up when I find something.” Coran’s voice sounded so hopeful and encouraging. Pidge admired that about the man. She nodded and walked to a chair in the corner of the room and curled up the best she could on it. It didn’t take long before she fell into a restless sleep. 

Pidge didn’t know how long she slept, but after what seemed like only a few ticks, Coran shook her shoulder, telling her to get up. “You need to take a look at this,” he said to her when she got on her feet. “I think I found him.”

* * *

 

Hunk woke up, still in the kitchen. He had dozed off a while ago. Allura had left without Hunk noticing. She had put a blanket over him, though.  _ That’s nice.  _ He got up from the floor.  _ I can’t just sit here.  _ He decided to go check if anyone needed help with anything. Or if anyone were hungry. 

He went to Keith’s room first. The guy had left pretty quickly after they got back and Hunk wanted to check if he was doing alright. He knew that he and Lance didn’t always see eye to eye, but he had seemed uncharacteristically shaken up about the whole thing.  _ Would it have made a difference if Keith knew that Lance had a crush on him? Is Keith even into dudes?  _

He got to the door and knocked on it. No one answered. Hunk sighed, and steeled himself before walking in anyways. He found Keith on the floor cradling something in his arms. The room wasn’t lit up, so it was hard to tell what it was. “Hey,” Hunk said warily. He wasn’t quite sure how to approach him. “So, I was wondering if you needed anything? Or if you’re like, hungry or something?” Keith didn’t respond. “I’m, uh, going to turn on the light, alright?” Doing so, he finally identified what Keith had been holding in his lap. It was Lance’s jacket. He knew Lance hadn’t been wearing it the last time he saw him without the suit, but…  _ Why does Keith have it? And is he-?  _

Keith was sobbing. Quietly, but loud enough for Hunk to notice.  _ Oh.  _ “Er, hey, buddy, are you alright?”  _ No, obviously not.  _ Keith just shook his head. 

Hunk sat down opposite of him on the floor. He studied Keith. He sat like that for a while, not quite knowing what to do. Keith looked as devastated as Hunk felt at that moment. He just couldn’t understand why. He had one theory though.  _ Keith is in love with Lance.  _ He would have found that very cute, if not for the current situation.

“You like him, don’t you?” Hunk asked bluntly. He figured it was best to just address the question. These idiots would never make any progress, until someone did something to force them. 

“I don’t know,” Keith said halfheartedly. He paused, hesitating for a while, then added. “I guess. But I wish I didn’t.”

“Why not?” Hunk asked curiously. 

“Because he’s a fucking idiot,” Keith replied harshly. 

“He’s a good guy, though. He might not be very good at thinking before speaking, but he always means well,” Hunk explained. Lance was his best friend, and even though he could make really stupid decisions, there was never any doubt that he had a good heart. 

“I suppose.” Keith shrugged. “He did give away his jacket to help me cover up my ears.” He touched one of them with his fingertips, and sighed out loud. His breath seemed a bit shaky. “It doesn’t really matter, it’s not like he is into guys either way.” 

Hunk was about to protest, but was interrupted by Allura’s voice.  _ “Paladins, come to the bridge, quickly!” _

* * *

 

Moments after the paladins had been summoned to the bridge for a briefing, Pidge and her two teammates left for the rescue mission. Allura hadn’t said much, and Pidge couldn’t remember a time the princess had been that quiet. It had been Coran who told them about his findings. 

_ “Be careful paladins,”  _ Allura had said, as they geared up. _ “Please make sure that all of you return this time.” _ She had smiled politely at them, and her voice was a lot gentler than it had been the day they returned from the failed mission. Pidge had returned the smile, wondering whether the princess had been as worried as they were. It was hard to tell. Her facade was a lot harder to look through, compared to the rest of them.  _ Not that I’m that good at reading people in the first place.  _ Pidge sighed out loud. 

“You alright, Pidge?” Hunk asked warily. He had that look on his face.  _ Typical Hunk; always worrying about too many people at the same time.  _

“I will be, when we find Lance,” she said, glancing carefully over at Keith who was steering the ship. There was something off with Keith that Pidge couldn’t quite put her finger on. He seemed so sad. With his bat ears down, he did in fact look even more like a sad puppy.  _ What’s up with that? _

* * *

 

Lance woke up, slowly, feeling more drowsy that he ever had before. Everything hurt; his head, his wrist; he had an ache that went through his entire body.  _ Probably because of this fucking floor.  _ Breathing hurt, and he wanted to throw up. He tried to move, to sit up or anything that would result in not laying like this on the floor, but moving made him more nauseous. He gritted his teeth, and breathed slowly through his nose. 

He lay like that for a while, until he could breathe somewhat normally without the urge to vomit. _Where are you guys? Please come find me… They will find me, right? Hunk will come for me. Of course he will. He’s my best friend, he wouldn’t leave me here, would he?_ Lance felt his heart drop. He hadn’t been the greatest friend in the first place, so why would he come back? He thought on how he had ignored Hunk’s anxiety about getting caught every time they snuck out of the Garrison, because Lance wanted to have some fun. _He could just replace me with someone else. Anyone would be better than me._

Lance felt tears dripping over his nose ridge and down his cheek on to the floor.  _ Why am I so fucking useless? No wonder Keith hates me. Like I could ever catch up with him. I’m good for nothing, and they’re all just better off without me.  _

_ You’re just a cargo pilot, no one needs you. _

_ You don’t have any talents, why would we keep you on the team? _

_ You’re a fucking loser! _

_ Stop it. Shut up, shut up, shut up, SHUT UP! _

“Someone help me, please,” he sobbed quietly. “I’ll do better, I’ll be better, please!”

* * *

 

_ Keep calm. Be calm. Focus, be patient. Patience yields focus.  _ Keith inhaled slowly through his nose and exhaled through his mouth. Not too loud, as he didn’t want the other two to hear him. It had been awkward enough after Hunk found him crying in his room, but if Pidge found out as well… he shuddered lightly.  _ We’ll find him. We will.  _ He closed his eyes for a moment.  _ I’m sorry I let you down, Shiro.  _ He swallowed and opened his eyes again. 

They were getting closer to the fleet, and he felt his heart beat faster and faster.  _ What if he’s dead?  _ He blinked.  _ This idiot better fucking be alive.  _ What Lance had done, had been brave; reckless, but brave. He had saved them all.  _ I should have stopped him.  _ Keith gritted his teeth. 

“We’re closing in,” Pidge said. “Get ready to fly us in, Keith.” 

“Copy that,” Keith replied.  _ Please be alive. I’ll bring you home.  _


	9. Chapter 9

##  **Chapter 9**

 

_ Finding the fleet. Check. Entering without issues. Check. Landing successfully. Check.  _ Things were going too well again, and it made Hunk nervous. His anxiety came with good reason when they exited the ship. 

“It’s gone.” Pidge said, and she was right. The ship that they had used the last time they were here, was missing. “How?” Pidge exclaimed. “Didn’t we put the barrier up?” 

“No, we didn’t. I was watching the ship, remember?” Hunk told her, followed by: “Do you think it was the Galra we fought back then, or did Lance manage to escape on his own?” He couldn’t help but feel hopeful at the idea.

“But wouldn’t he have been able to make it back to the castle?” Pidge had a thoughtful frown on her face. 

“There’s only one way to find out,” Keith said. His voice was tense, but firm.  _ Like a leader,  _ Hunk thought to himself. “Let’s split up and search the ship. I know it didn’t go too well last time, but we’ll just have to be more careful.” 

“Roger that,” Pidge said, looking as if she was flushing a bit. Hunk imagined that she felt a little embarrassed about being knocked out last time. “I spotted some cameras the last time we were here. If we find the computer room, we might be able to find out what happened to Lance by watching the surveillance footage.” 

Hunk and Keith nodded. “Be careful,” Keith said quietly before they all parted ways.  _ Who would have thought that Keith was such a cupcake this whole time. _

Hunk’s search revealed nothing but abandoned corridors and empty rooms.  _ There is nothing here.  _

“How’s it going, Hunk?” Pidge asked through the com. It startled him; he had been too focused on being stealthy. 

“Don’t do that,” he exclaimed silently, to which Pidge snickered in his ear. “Nothing so far. What about you?” 

“I found the computer room,” Pidge said. “I’m going through the videos as we speak. We were right about the Galra taking the ship, but nothing on Lance so far.”

“Heard anything from Keith?” Hunk asked quietly, still not sure if they were completely alone or not. He continued to walk as they spoke.

“Yeah, I contacted him just before you. Nothing on his side, either,” Pidge told him. It was quiet for a while on the com, and Hunk thought she might have turned it off, but then she asked him: “Do you think Keith is acting kind of strange about this?” 

“What do you mean?” Hunk asked back, and opened a door to his right.  _ Nothing. Again.  _

“I mean, he seems a lot more depressed about the whole situation than I would have imagined. I didn’t think he and Lance got along all that well.” 

_ Should I tell her? She’d love to hear that, but now is not really the time for that.  _ “He might still be upset about Shiro,” he chose to answer with. It wouldn’t be wrong, either. 

“It would be likely, yes, but this just seems different. I can’t really put my finger- Oh! Hey, I see you!” Pidge suddenly exclaimed. “Take a right up ahead, and then the door after that.” 

Hunk did as she told him, and as it was, he too was standing in the computer room. Pidge waved at him quickly and continued looking through several security videos at once. “How are you doing that?” he asked. 

“Never mind that,” Pidge said excitedly, “I found something --”

“You found Lance?” Hunk asked, his heart racing slightly.

“Um, well, no, but --” she stopped mid sentence, staring at one of the screens with her eyes widened.

“Pidge?” Hunk asked anxiously. 

“Oh no,” she whispered, then reached for the com. “Keith, I found him. Take the first turn to your left, then the second door on your right side. Hurry.” 

_ What did she see?  _ He stepped forward to look at the screen, and his heart sank in his chest. Lance was tied down and unmoving, getting dragged through a door by two Galras. Hunk swallowed. He had tried to keep his spirits up through the entire mission, but now his optimism just faded. He knew Lance was tough, he  _ knew  _ that, but seeing his best friend knocked out and tied down was worse than he’d imagined.  _ He’s going to be fine. He has to! _

Pidge must have seen the look of despair on Hunk’s face, because she placed a hand on his arm. Before she could say anything, Keith spoke to both of them on the com. 

“I found him. He’s alive, but we gotta get him out of here.” Keith sounded worried, so Hunk immediately responded with a “we’re on our way,” as they both hurried out of the computer room.

* * *

 

Keith cut Lance loose from the wall. Lance winced in pain as his hands dropped behind his back. “Can you sit up?” Keith asked warily, crouching in front of him. The guy looked terrible. He had a very large bruise on his left temple, surrounded by dried blood.

Lance nodded and Keith helped him sit up to lean against the wall, grasping his shoulders lightly to support him. He took out a tiny flask of water he had on his belt and offered it to Lance. It had been days, and it didn’t look like he had been given any food or water. Keith felt his heart sink in his chest. 

“Hunk and Pidge are on their way. We’re gonna get you out of here,” Keith assured him, but it didn’t really seem like Lance heard any of it. His head was leaned against the wall and he seemed drowsy. “Hey.” Keith shook his shoulder lightly. “Stay with me, okay? Help is on the way.” Lance didn’t respond. 

Keith felt a panic emerge. He had no idea what to do.  _ Damn it, get a grip!  _ He didn’t know how long it would take for Hunk and Pidge to get to them, and by the looks of it, they had to hurry.  _ He looks like he’s dying.  _ He felt a lump in his throat.  _ Stop it.  _ He blinked a couple of times and tried figure out what to do. He shifted his position and sat down on his knees.  _ He might have a fever?  _ Keith placed a hand behind Lance’s neck and placed his own forehead on his, like his dad had done once when he was little and had a cold. 

“What are you doing?” Lance mumbled, making Keith jump a little. 

“You’re not warm, so I don’t think you have a fever,” Keith told him and sat back up. Lance didn’t reply to that, so Keith proceeded by talking to him. “So, that was pretty dumb, huh?” 

Lance glanced up at him. 

“The whole being-the-hero thing you did back there.” Lance didn’t say anything, just leaned his head back to the wall again and gave a small “mhm” in reply. “Why did you do that?” Keith finally asked. 

Lance sat in silence for a while, then he just shook his head slightly and shrugged. It was a small movement, almost not visible. 

“You could have died.” Keith whispered, not sure if Lance would actually hear him. “We all thought you were gone.” His voice cracked. Not much, but enough to make him clear his throat. 

Lance remained silent, looking at nothing in front of him. Keith was getting restless, because it was taking the others way too long to get there. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again.  _ To say what? “You stupid fucking moron, how could you do this to me? To us? To the team? We-”  _

Lance cut off his trail of thought. “Why did you come back?” he asked. 

“What?” Keith was confused. 

“Why did you come back here?” Lance said. His head was tipped a little to the side to look at Keith as he spoke. “It’s not like you would have missed me.” 

“What are you talking about?” Keith was going from restless to furious. “You’re a part of the team!” 

Lance chuckled. “You’re cute, when you’re angry.” Then he turned his head back again.  _ Wha-?  _

“Don’t joke around like this, man.” 

“Don’t tell anyone... My abuela would kill me.” Lance got a worried frown on his face, then closed his eyes. 

“Lance?” Keith said. “Hey, keep your eyes open.” He shook him lightly on the shoulder, but Lance didn’t respond.  _ No, no, no, don’t do this.  _ He grabbed Lance’s shoulders with both hands and shook him. “Open your eyes, Lance. Look at me!” 

Lance slowly opened his eyes and looked up at him, slightly dazed. 

“Stay awake, alright, don’t close your eyes. Don’t even blink.” Keith said, on the brink of panic. 

Lance snorted. “Hey.” 

“What?” 

“Your eyes have a little green in them.”  _ My eyes are grey, though.  _ And just as he thought that, Lance leaned to the other side and vomited. Keith dropped his shoulders by reflex, but managed to still keep him steady by grabbing his arm. He patted Lance gently on his back. 

Over the sound of Lance retching, Keith heard footsteps closing in, and did a silent prayer that it was his team mates and not the Galra. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Low-key referenced to 10 things I hate about you at the end of the chapter ;)


	10. Chapter 10

##  **Chapter 10**

 

They all returned to the castle safely, bringing an unconscious Lance back with them. He had passed out when the team had tried to help him up on his feet, so Hunk ended up carrying him back to their ship. He’d worn a worried frown his face the entire time. Keith could understand that. Lance and Hunk were really close friends, there wasn’t any doubt about that.

 

_ Keith, along with Pidge, watched as Hunk got Lance inside of the ship and placed him gently on the floor. Pidge had glanced over at Keith with a weird expression on her face, one that Keith had no idea how to interpret. He just brushed it off for the time being, and sat down next to Lance, making sure he was going to be alright.  _

_ Pidge had cleared her throat quite loudly after a while, something that made both Hunk and Keith look over at her. “So, I should probably wait with telling you this until we’ve returned to the castle and have Coran and Allura among us, but I really can’t keep quiet and I think both of you, especially Keith, could use some good news for the time being.”  _

_ “What’s going on?” Hunk asked her.  _

_ “You remember when I said I found something before you showed up at the computer room?” Pidge addressed to Hunk, who only nodded in reply. _

 

Keith almost hadn’t believed what she told them. She was right though, that had been news he needed to hear. Shiro was alive. He and Matt had apparently been on the fleet not too long before they arrived there, and they had been the reason for why most of the Galra on the ship had run off. According to Pidge it looked like a rebellion of sorts, and as she explained it, they were fighting Galra and freeing prisoners.

A knot that had been clutching on his heart for the past few weeks had loosened, and he had been filled with relief. He should have been more excited by this, but there was a different kind of knot that remained in his chest that he couldn’t explain. He chose to ignore it, and tried to focus on the good news.

Allura and Coran had been thrilled when they returned, both because of them returning with Lance, but also because of Pidge’s news. For the first time in a while, things seemed to go their way.

* * *

 

The team was sitting on the floor in the room where the healing pods were stored. No one said anything. Hunk and Keith were sitting next to a wall opposite of each other, while Pidge had sat down next to the healing pod, leaning her back against it, typing away on her computer.  _ We found Lance. Matt and Shiro are alive. There has got to be a way I can get to them,  _ she thought to herself.

She had been sitting like that for a while, before she looked up. Both Hunk and Keith seemed tired. Pidge was feeling slightly mischievous, and after what Hunk had told her back at the Galra fleet, she was going to be just that. 

“Hey, Keith, why haven’t you told us that you’re in love with Lance?” she asked nonchalantly, and grinned when Keith glared at Hunk, who on his side of the room just shrugged and pretended he didn’t know what she was talking about. 

“Come on, Keith, it was kind of obvious,” Hunk said. 

“Shut up,” Keith mumbled. 

“It would have been less obvious if you hadn’t told me, Hunk.” Pidge grinned. Hunk just laughed.  _ Good, he’s not gonna hold a grudge against me.  _ “So, you planning on telling us what possessed you into this kind of madness? You gotta be a bit out of it if you’re into Lance,” Pidge joked. 

“Don’t say that, Pidge, Lance is a great guy,” Hunk said in Lance’s defence. 

“He kept doing weird stunts when piloting the flying simulator at the Garrison, remember? Or have you forgotten about all the times you threw up because of that?” Pidge exclaimed.

Hunk sighed. “There was a reason for that. He wasn’t  _ just  _ being an idiot.” 

“Explain,” Keith and Pidge said at the same time. 

“The only reason I joined the Garrison, was because Lance knew that I am a good mechanic. But he also knew that I got motion sickness easily, and we decided to just try some shock therapy, I guess you could call it - it wasn’t exactly a great idea, we definitely had our better moments, but he meant well. He always does.” Hunk took a breath, then continued. “He might come off as shallow, and overconfident, but most of it’s just a charade. He hides behind it because he’s insecure. And if you ever tell him I told you this, I will deny it on my life.” 

“Wow,” Pidge said quietly. “So, what you’re saying is that he is an idiot, but a good hearted idiot.” 

Hunk nodded. “He doesn’t hate you, you know.” He addressed it to Keith. “In fact, it is the quite opposite.”  _ Holy. Shit. Hunk.  _

“What do you mean?” Keith asked, confused. 

“What I’m saying, is that you should let him know how you feel. Just be wary about it,” Hunk explained. 

“He’s gonna laugh in my face,” Keith protested with a frown. 

“Probably, but not for the reasons you might think,” Hunk told him.

* * *

 

Pidge left after a while. She planned on spending the rest of the day looking for anything new on Matt and Shiro. Keith wanted to do the same, but he didn’t know how to do the kind of research Pidge could do on a computer, so he figured it was no good. Instead he was just sitting there, watching Lance in the healing pod. 

Hunk was still sitting there as well. He hadn’t really moved since they got there. Keith figured he would have gone for a snack or something at some point. That would have been fine with Keith, because then he would be alone for a while. He could always go to his room, but he wanted to be here when Lance woke up. 

Keith had thought about what Hunk had said. _He is right,_ _I should just fess up._ Lance had almost died, they could have lost him. _If he had died, I never would have been able to tell him… Tell him what, exactly? That I like his stupid face?_ Keith flushed slightly, hoping Hunk wouldn’t notice. He pulled his knees up to his chest and placed his head on top of them, hiding his face a little. _Shiro, why aren’t you here when I need you?_ Keith knew it sounded stupid, but he felt so lost, he didn’t know what to do about anything for the time being. _How the hell did I become like this?_

“You alright, Keith?” Hunk asked quietly. He had a worried expression on his face, which was typical for him, but Keith felt bad about it.  _ You don’t have to worry about me at a time like this.  _

He nodded in reply. He came to think of something, and asked: “What is an abuela and why would it kill him?” 

“Seriously, did none of you have Spanish in school?” Keith flushed again and shook his head. Hunk sighed, somewhat frustrated. “It means grandmother.”

“Why would his grandmother kill him?” Keith felt more confused now than he did before.

“Lance is bisexual,” Hunk told him. “His grandmother doesn’t approve of that, so he never told her. He loves her very much, so he puts a lot of effort into making sure that she doesn’t know.” 

“What?” 

“Do you know where I’m going at with this, or are you just as thickheaded as he is?” Hunk arched an eyebrow at him. 

Keith’s heart started beating faster. He looked up at the healing pod.  _ You’re fucking kidding me.  _


	11. Chapter 11

##  Chapter 11

Lance was laying on his back in bed, just staring at the ceiling. He had retreated to his room shortly after he woke up from being in the healing pod. He had excused himself by saying he still felt a bit woozy from the whole thing and wanted to lay down for a while. It was a lie, but he couldn’t stand being around his teammates for the time being. It made him feel uneasy.

It had all happened in a blur, really; Hunk had swooped him up in the warmest embrace he had ever experienced, Pidge had made a comment about the fact that she was glad he didn’t turn into Galra food, Allura had welcomed him back with a smile, and Coran too had given him a hug. Keith had been there as well, but he hadn’t done anything, instead remaining in the background. It had all made Lance feel really warm on the inside, but something still stirred at the back of his mind.  _ They’re just faking it. I’m just a burden they brought back. Pathetic. Useless.  _

Tears welled up in his eyes as he stared up at the ceiling.  _ Why did they even come back for me?  _

There was a knock on his door. Lance didn’t want to talk to anyone, so he didn’t reply.  _ Maybe they’ll think I’m asleep and just go away?  _ Lance thought, but that didn’t happen. Whoever was on the other side of his bedroom door, made another attempt at knocking. This time it seemed more hesitant. 

Lance closed his eyes and sighed, then wiped his cheeks with his sleeve and got out of bed to open the door. To his surprise Keith was on the other side, and Keith seemed just as surprised to see Lance opening the door.  _ Maybe he actually thought I was sleeping.  _

“What do you want?” Lance asked bluntly. 

“I, er, wanted to return this.” Keith stuck his arm out at him, which made Lance flinch a tiny bit, just as he noticed what Keith was handing to him.  _ My jacket.  _

“Oh, thanks,” Lance said, a bit put off, and grabbed the jacket.  

“I didn’t have the time to clean it, though.” Keith scratched the side of neck, not really making eye contact with Lance. 

“Don’t worry about it.” Lance mumbled, about to turn and go back to his bed. 

“How… how are you holding up?” Keith asked him. Lance swore one of his ears flicked a little bit just then and for a moment a fleeting thought crossed his mind.  _ Could he get any cuter? _

Lance shoved the thought away and grinned lightly. “I’m holding up just fine.”  _ You’re lying, don’t let him know that you’re lying.  _ “Come on, you think I’d be down just because I got knocked out by some Galra? Please.” Lance tilted his head to the side and grinned smugly.  _ Butter it up like popcorn.  _

Keith frowned and narrowed his eyes. “Alright, that is… that’s good. Good. Great, even.” His voice faltered at the end. “I’m, er, glad.” Keith looked up at Lance for the shortest while, before he went back to avoiding eye contact again.  _ What is he playing at? _

“Look, you don’t have to come around here pretending to care. Thank you for returning the jacket, can I return to my solitude now, your highness?” Lance bowed. 

“Why are you like this?” Keith asked furiously. 

“Like what? Tall, handsome, an amazing pilot?” Lance kept his smug grin.  _ Just for a little longer and he’ll leave.  _

“You’re such an asshole!” Keith snapped at him, something that caused Lance to back away. “You could have fucking died and you act like it’s not a big deal? What the hell is wrong with you?!” 

With that Keith took off, leaving Lance dumbstruck.

* * *

 

Keith stomped off. He was furious. Frustrated. He’d wanted to yell at Lance, but he had no idea how to put his words into sentences, so he went into default angry mode and yelled at Lance, then just took off.  _ I can’t deal with Lance and his stupid face. Stupid Lance. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.  _

He stopped in his tracks a little down the corridor.  _ You fucking moron, how are you going to tell him how you feel if you just blow up in his face and leave every time?  _

Keith turned and started to walk back, but then stopped again. “No, I can’t do this.” He turned 180 degrees and walked off again. 

“But if I don’t do it now, I might never do it.” He stopped. “If he had died, that would have been it and I’d never have the chance to tell him.”  _ Go back. Just fucking let him know you care about his sorry ass and tell him that his face is pretty. Yes, perfect plan.  _ But Keith didn’t move. He just stood there like an idiot in the middle of the hallway. 

Keith let out a grunt of frustration.  _ Just. Fucking. Go.  _ He turned on his heel and walked back, this time with the intention of staying on course. 

Keith didn’t even bother knocking on the now closed door, he just walked right in with a very confident “we need to talk” prepared. He didn’t get to that. 

Walking in, he was met with Lance down on the floor; knees pulled up to his chest, with his arms wrapped around himself.  _ Oh no, is he crying…?  _ Keith had never seen Lance cry before, and he wished he never would. The guy who usually walked around with a smug grin on his face and a bright personality, now seemed so broken. 

“What?” Lance asked bitterly, not looking up at Keith.

Keith found himself frozen. He wasn’t good at comforting people.  _ Shiro would have known what to do.  _ Keith didn’t say anything, but instead sat down on the floor next to Lance. He sat there for a while in silence, before asking: “What’s going on, Lance?” 

“I told you, you don’t have to act like you care,” Lance said dryly and wiped a few tears from his cheeks. “Just go away.” 

“I care.” Keith said quietly. Lance chuckled lightly. 

“No, you don’t.” 

“Yes, I do,” Keith said more distinctly. 

“That’s nice.” Lance sniffled and turned to look at Keith. He had an ache in his chest that kept growing. Seeing Lance so torn up really pained him. 

“Why don’t you believe that?” Keith asked warily and knitted his eyebrows, looking at him with a worried expression. 

“It’s not exactly like we get along, Keith,” Lance said, and folded his arms on top of his knees to rest his chin on them. 

“No. I suppose not. I always thought you hated me, for some reason. That doesn’t mean I don’t care about you.” 

Lance sighed. “I don’t hate you.” 

“That’s nice.” Keith smiled gently at him, which made Lance chuckle. 

“Yeah, that’s nice.” 

Lance got up from the floor, and Keith followed his example. 

“These floors aren’t really made for sitting,” Lance mumbled. 

_ What do I do? What do I say? How do I act?  _

Keith stepped a bit closer to Lance, who had his back turned against him. “Hey, er, we need to talk.” 

“What, one heart to heart wasn’t enough for one day?” Lance asked as he turned to look at Keith. Turning that abruptly made the distance between him and Lance a lot shorter than he had anticipated, and he froze. Lance seemed to do the same, because he looked at Keith sort of dumbfoundedly.  _ He really is quite beautiful up close.  _

Then something happened that Keith wasn’t entirely prepared for. 

It felt like one of those slow motion moments that only happens in movies. Keith could feel his heart rate escalate rapidly, and he froze. Lance pressed his lips gently against Keith’s, and he held his breath. For a tick or second, or whatever time measurement system one would prefer; for Keith, everything stood completely still. Then, Lance abruptly pulled back from the kiss. 

“I can’t do this, I can’t.” Lance seemed slightly terrified and his breath was uneven. Keith didn’t understand.  _ What just happened?  _

“What? Why?” he asked, still trying to wrap his head around what just happened. 

“I just… I just can’t.” Lance wrapped his arms across his chest. 

“Lance, what’s going on?” Keith was really confused. “You kissed  _ me,  _ I don’t understand.” 

“Can you just go, please?” Lance pleaded. “Just. Leave. Please.” 

Keith didn’t want to leave Lance like this, but he had no idea what to do or say, so he just nodded and left without a word. 


	12. Chapter 12

##  **Chapter 12**

 

Pidge was rocking back and forth in front of her computer. Now that Lance was up and seemed well enough, she set her mind completely on the task of finding her brother and Shiro.  _ They are alive. They were there, and they are alive. Now I just have to find them.  _ That was easier said than done. Whatever transmision she had found the first time around from the Galra fleet, must have been sent by someone.  _ Maybe Matt tried to contact me? Did Shiro tell him that I’m out here? Did -?  _ She interrupted her own trail of thoughts by letting out a grunt of annoyance. “Why does space have to be so massive?” 

She stood up and decided to find Hunk so he could make her something to eat.  _ Food for the brain so that I can focus on my job.  _

She walked out of the computer room and almost got run down by Keith, who seemed completely oblivious to everything around him. 

“Sorry,” he mumbled, not looking at her for a second, like he was hiding his face away from her. He started walking away, but Pidge managed to step in front of him, hindering his escape. 

“What’s up with you, dude? I know being emo is your thing, but this is just weird.” Pidge said, making quotation marks in the air at the word “emo.” She arched an eyebrow as she looked up at him, but he just stared to the side, avoiding her glare. She tilted her head to the side so that she could see his eyes better. “Are you... crying?” she asked, sounding a lot more surprised than she had planned to be. 

“No,” Keith muttered. He was truthful; he wasn’t crying, but he looked like he had been, or at least like he was going to. Pidge wasn’t quite sure which one it was. 

“What’s going on, buddy? I thought you’d be in a better mood now that you know Shiro’s alive.” Pidge made an excellent effort to sound caring. She did care, but her curiosity was crippling in the back of her mind, and it made her sound less considerate when she talked.  _ Please don’t let it be something serious or I’ll be the biggest douchebag of all time.  _

Keith didn’t say anything at first, just stood there with a thoughtful frown on his face, then he tilted his head back and sighed in frustration. “You’re actually going to find this very funny,” he said dryly. 

“I was going to grab some food, but step into my office.” Pidge opened the door to the computer room again to let Keith through. He hesitated for a bit, but eventually walked in and sat down on one of the chairs. 

He sat in silence for a while. 

“So,” Pidge was tapping her foot lightly on the ground. “You gonna tell me what happened?” 

“We kinda... kissed,” Keith said and flushed. “Lance and I.”  _ No shit. And here I thought you were talking about you and Coran. _

“You kissed? You went from not daring to tell him how you feel to kissing? How did that happen? Did you even confess first? Did you kiss him or did he kiss you? Was he even good at it? I mean it’s Lance we’re talking about, and to be honest that’s not really anything I’ve ever thought about, but he must have smooched a few of the girls he’ve been flirting with, right?” 

This time Keith was the one with an eyebrow arched her way. “Are you done?” he asked. 

“Please, go on.”

* * *

 

Hunk was trying to make cookies in the kitchen. It wasn’t easy with all the ingredient labels written in Altean.  _ If we ever go back to a space mall, I’m getting proper baking things.  _ He wasn’t really sure if any of the things in the castle kitchen were meant for cookies, but he decided to try either way. Besides, cooking calmed him, and it had been a stressful past few days.  _ Maybe Lance wants some. Probably not at the moment, but it’ll give me an excuse to talk to him.  _

Hunk had noticed that something had been off with his friend after he woke up from the healing pod. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but he needed to find out, and he knew that Lance wouldn’t just tell him without some effort.  _ He’s probably gonna make a show out of it, to make it seem like nothing’s wrong.  _

The ticks on the oven went to zero and the cookies were done. They were a bright shade of purple. “Great… I made Galra cookies.” He shrugged and moved a few cookies off the tray and placed them on a plate before exiting the kitchen to go search for Lance.

* * *

 

Pidge had been laughing for what seemed like forever.  _ I should not have told her this. This was a mistake.  _ “I’m going to leave,” Keith said and was about to get out of his chair before Pidge stopped him mid-laugh. 

“No, please don’t, I’m sorry,” she said, wiping tears from the corners of her eyes. “This really is the greatest thing I’ve heard in my entire life.” 

“I’m glad my agony amuses you, Pidge,” Keith said dryly and narrowed his eyes at her. 

“Alright, alright, I’m sorry.” Pidge grinned widely in his direction. 

“Somehow I find that hard to believe.” 

Pidge just snorted in response to that, then asked: “What are you going to do about this?” 

“Fling myself into outer space,” Keith said sarcastically. He wouldn’t really do that, but he wanted to get out of this floating castle. How would he be able to focus on being a defender of the universe in a state like this? He should have stuck with his gut-feeling and not said anything to Lance.  _ Stupid Hunk, how did he even know in the first place? Why did I listen to his advice? I’m such an idiot.  _

“You look adorable,” Pidge told him, and he looked up at her questioningly. She pointed at his ears. “You look like an angry kitten.” 

“I’m leaving.” Keith got up from the chair and Pidge started laughing again.

“No, wait.” 


	13. Chapter 13

##  **Chapter 13**

 

Hunk knocked on the door to Lance’s room. There was no response.  _ Maybe he’s sleeping?  _ He tried knocking again, this time a bit harder than the first. Still no response.  _ I’ll just go in and place the cookies on his nightstand, so that he’ll find them when he wakes up, h _ e thought to himself and walked into the room. 

What met him, was not a sleeping Lance, as he had thought. Instead he found Lance curled up in a ball on the floor. “Lance?” he asked warily. “Is everything alright?” 

“Yep. All is good.” Lance said. His voice was grainy, and it sounded like he had been crying. 

“Lance, what’s going on?” Hunk then asked, sounding slightly more strict than he usually did. “And don’t tell me that it’s nothing, because I won’t believe you.” 

Lance got up into a sitting position, still on the floor, but he pushed himself backwards so that he could lean his back on the side of the bed. Hunk placed the plate of cookies on the nightstand and sat down on the floor next to Lance. “Talk to me, buddy.” 

Lance was staring down on his hands. He didn’t say anything, and he didn’t look at Hunk. This was new to Hunk. He’d never seen Lance this down before. 

“Do you miss Earth?” Lance asked after a while. 

“I do. A lot. “ Hunk replied truthfully. “I miss my family. I even miss the Garrison, sometimes.” 

Lance chuckled lightly and brushed his nose with the palm of his hand. “Yeah, me too.” 

“We’ll see them again,” Hunk told him. He wasn’t always sure he believed that, but he couldn’t completely surrender to the thought that they wouldn’t. That would destroy him in the long run. 

“Yeah,” Lance said quietly. 

Hunk eyed him cautiously. “Don’t you want to?” It was an odd question to ask; he knew Lance missed home more that anyone, but there was something about him that said otherwise this time. 

“I don’t know.” Lance said after a moment of silence. 

“Are you worried that your abuela is going to find out about your crush on Keith?” Hunk asked.

* * *

 

“Okay, so what are you going to do about this? Because what I’m guessing is that you’re going to hide and pretend like nothing happened, and we can’t have any of that,” Pidge told Keith. She had finally gathered herself. The mental image of these two dorks kissing and then Keith fleeing the scene had been too much for her to stay serious. 

“He made it pretty clear that he didn’t want me there,” Keith said and threw his arms to the side. 

“You also said that he was the one who kissed you, which means the opposite of that,” Pidge pointed out. 

“But then he told me to  _ leave,  _ Pidge, what do you think that means?” The question seemed rather rhetorical to Pidge.  _ Oh, these idiots, what am I supposed to do about them?  _

“Alright, I’m going to assume that that Hunk have told you about Lance’s grandmother, right?”

“Your assumption is correct.” Keith fell back into the chair again. 

“Then I’m sure you can understand that this is not easy for him.” Pidge had sympathy for Lance, she did.  _ He’s an idiot, but Hunk is right. He is a good guy. _

“I do. I just don’t know what I should do.” Keith shrugged. “And shouldn’t we be focusing on stopping the Galra from taking over the universe? It is not like this is important.”

“We’ll have plenty of time to save the universe, but this might only happen once for the two of you, if we’re being realistic,” Pidge said. “I mean, I do hope we all survive this, but we are also teenagers in space, fighting an entire army, in robot cats.” 

“So what are you suggesting, then?” 

“Oh no, no, I’m not going to suggest anything. Does it look like I know the first thing about being in love? My only love is technology. Besides, I’m only here for the drama.” Pidge grinned wickedly at Keith, whose face fell. “This is something you need to figure out on your own,  _ Samurai.” _

* * *

 

“What the hell are you talking about, Hunk?” Lance’s eyes widened and he looked at Hunk with shock.  _ How the hell does he even know? This is the one thing I’ve always kept hidden from him.  _

“Oh come on, you know I know you better than you do. Did you honestly think that you could keep this a secret from me?” Hunk lifted an eyebrow looking back at Lance.

He didn’t know how to reply to that. He had always thought it was something he’d been able to keep hidden, and now that it was just out there in the open… he didn’t know what to do. 

“Since you refuse to answer me on any of my questions, I’m just going to ask you another,” Hunk told him. “Did something happen between you and Keith? Is that what you’re so worried about?” 

“That’s two questions, Hunk,” Lance said. 

“Lance.” 

“I kissed him.” Lance said quietly.  _ I kissed him... and he kissed me back.  _

“Continue,” Hunk told him. 

“Like, he was here for some reason, and he… was really close at one point, and his eyes looked really pretty, and it just happened.” Lance couldn’t breathe properly.  _ What have I done? What am I even doing?  _ Lance covered his face with his hands. 

“Lance, it’s alright.” Hunk’s voice sounded far away. 

“No… No, she’s going to kill me.” Lance was starting to panic.

A steady hand placed gently around his shoulders. “I know that this is scary for you, and I know that you’re worried about her, but I’m going to tell you something I probably should have told you sooner. If she loves you, she’s going to be alright with it. It’s going to be fine.” 

A loud sob escaped Lance’s lips Tears were streaming down his face, and he broke down crying in Hunk’s lap. Everything he had been holding back bursted out of him. “Perdóname Abuelita!” he cried. Hunk was gently stroking his back, telling him that it was alright. It didn’t feel alright. Nothing felt alright. On top of that, he felt downright stupid for letting this break him, but he couldn’t stop. He had no control over his own emotions. 

After a while, when Lance finally managed to stop crying he sat up again. Hunk didn’t stop him; he let him have his space. Hunk was really great like that, and Lance was yet again reminded of how much he truly appreciated their friendship. He wiped away his tears for the third time that day, and inhaled and exhaled slowly. He noticed it was shaky, and it irritated him a lot.  _ Why do you have to be such a wuss? _

“How are you feeling?” Hunk asked warily. 

“I’m alright,” Lance lied. Not that Hunk would believe that, but what else could he say? He didn’t even know how he was feeling at the moment. “Thank you,” he then added. “And… I’m sorry.” 

“For what?” Hunk asked and reached for the plate of cookies he had brought with him. He passed it to Lance. “I know, they look like Galra poop, but I’m hoping they taste better, and that they won’t break your teeth.” Hunk chuckled, and Lance grabbed one of the cookies. He didn’t really feel like eating, but he didn’t have the heart to turn it down. 

Lance nibbled on the cookie until he got tired of Hunk eyeing him from the side for not answering his question. 

“I’m not always a good friend to you,” Lance mumbled. 

“Nah, you’re pretty alright.” Hunk took a bite out of his own cookie. 

“But I-” Lance started, but Hunk cut him off. 

“You’re terrible at thinking things through, like, always. Most of your plans that don’t concern saving the universe are horrible.” Hunk finished off the cookie. “Having said that, I have never seen you go through with any of your wacky ideas without good intentions.” 

Lance swallowed a lump that was about to gather in his throat. Hunk had his own way of making everyone feel better. Lance still felt shitty, but less than before. 

“Now, what do you plan to do?”


	14. Chapter 14

##  **Chapter 14**

 

Keith had left Pidge in the computer room. She was going to tease him forever about this matter. He still didn’t know what to do. Logic told him to just forget about it all, because they had a job to do, and this was interfering with it. On the other hand, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he might regret it if he walked away from whatever this was. 

“Stupid Lance, why does he have to be so fucking pretty,” he mumbled out loud to himself. 

“Stupid Lance indeed.”

Keith froze completely.  _ Oh. No.  _ He turned slowly and found Lance standing behind him leaning against the wall of the corridor.  _ Where the hell did he come from?  _ Something was out of order, though. Usually Lance would have had a more confident stance, but he looked hesitant. 

“Can we talk?” he asked carefully.

Keith nodded and watched as Lance slid down on the floor.  _ Oh, alright, right here, that’s fine, he _ thought and hesitated a little, but eventually sat down next to him. Lance didn’t say anything, he just sat very quietly with a thoughtful expression on his face. Keith couldn’t really remember the last time Lance had been this still. He usually had a more vibrant persona. 

“Do you regret it?” Keith asked. He wasn’t sure if he wanted an answer, but he needed to know either way. 

“No,” Lance said and there was a hint of a smile on his face. 

“I’m... glad,” Keith told him, knowing that he could have sounded a lot more confident. He was glad, but he was also scared. 

“I don’t know how to act around you,” Lance admitted. “It’s like, everytime you’re around, I turn into a complete idiot. More than usual.” 

Keith didn’t know how to respond to that, so he kept quiet, letting Lance speak. 

“You’re always so great at everything. And even though I gotta admit I’m pretty jealous about that, it is always been something I’ve admired about you. And I wish that I could be that great at things too, so that you would think the same of me. This sounds really dumb, but I-” Lance cut himself off. 

“Lance-” 

“I’m sorry about what I said. I didn’t mean it. I was just scared that if it was so easy to replace Shiro, who is-” Lance cut himself off, audibly swallowing, before correcting himself, “ _ was _ the leader of Voltron, how easy wouldn’t it be to replace me?” Tears started welling down his face as he said that. “For fuck’s sake,” Lance whispered as he angrily wiped them away. 

Keith was shocked and confused by Lance seemingly thinking that anyone would want to replace him on the team. It made no sense to him, but instead of asking Lance about it, he told him: “No one is going to replace you.” 

Lance chuckled through a small sob. “That’s good to hear.” He brushed at his tears once more with the sleeve of his shirt, then folded his hands and placed them on his forehead. “I don’t know how to do this,” he said, so quiet it almost felt intimate. It was vague, but he had a good guess of what Lance was talking about. 

“I don’t know, either,” Keith told him. 

“It’s not only because of my abuela. I figured I could just suppress it forever, but you have a weird charm about you.” Keith caught himself blushing. Lance tilted his head to the side, looking at him, and grinned lightly at the sight. This only made Keith blush harder and he covered his face with his hands. He could feel his ears twitch involuntarily. Lance laughed at him. “I once feared that the Galra look wouldn’t suit you, but it’s not too bad.” 

“Shut up,” Keith said behind his hands. 

“You never did say anything about what happened,” Lance said after a moment. Keith removed his hands and shifted on the floor a bit, so that he wouldn’t sit on his tail. That was a real struggle for him, because somehow it was always in the way. 

“I don’t really know. It just happened.” Keith shivered at the thought of it. It still hurt down his spine sometimes. 

“Was it painful?” Lance asked warily. He had a hint of concern in his eyes that made Keith feel a bit bothered, but he brushed it off and simply nodded. “I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t be,” Keith said, and looked down. He felt a tiny bit ashamed of the whole situation.

They sat in silence for a long while. Keith didn’t feel like talking, and he didn’t really know what to say, either. He wanted to let him know that whatever happened between them didn’t have to mean anything if he didn’t want it to, but at the same time Keith  _ did  _ want it to mean something.  _ This could potentially be very bad. Not just for us, but for the entire team.  _ Keith felt guilty. Again, it felt like he had betrayed Shiro.  _ He asked me to lead them, but instead I got caught up in this mess that might be the downfall of Voltron.  _

“What are you thinking about?” Lance asked. 

“I think Shiro might have made a mistake,” Keith said without thinking about it. “I can’t be the one to lead Voltron.”

“Was my kiss so bad, you went back to brooding over that?” Lance asked, sounding offended. 

“What? No! I just-” Keith flushed.  _ Kill me now.  _

Lance grinned, then his face turned serious again. “You’re gonna do fine. Besides, we’re going to find Shiro again.” 

Keith smiled in return. 

“Can I ask you something?” 

Keith nodded. 

“Do you think we could try again?” Lance looked flustered. “I mean, heh, I just don’t think we can go back after that. I mean we could, but I don’t think bickering about everything is something you’d want to go back to in the first place.” 

“What are you even talking about?” Keith was confused. Nothing that came out of this guy’s mouth made any sense. 

“The kiss, Keith. I’m talking about the kiss.” Lance got more flustered. 

“Huh?” 

“Can we try it… again?” Lance got up on his feet and held out a hand towards Keith. 

Keith grabbed his hand and yanked himself up from the floor. “Are you sure you’re alright with this?” 

Lance nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

* * *

 

Pidge was grinning widely.  _ Finally. Hopefully their drama will be done now that they seem to have figured things out.  _ Pidge had been watching the surveillance display ever since Keith had exited the computer room, so she’d seen the entire thing. She couldn’t hear any of it, but she’d been at the edge of her seat nonetheless. She was happy for the two of them. She knew that in their position, being paladins of Voltron, there wasn’t much room for ‘finding love’ on the list of priorities. She just hoped this wouldn’t ruin things with the team like Keith had seemed so worried about. 

She continued working on her computer, going through everything yet again to search for her brother and Shiro. She didn’t know how to find them, per se, but knowing they were out there gave her all the hope in the world that she would be able to track them down somehow. 

“Let’s hope the lovey dovey couple can bring some luck our way,” she mumbled to the computer screen. 

She almost fell out of the chair, because something sounding like static blurted out from the com attached to it. 

“What the hell?” she yelped. 

“Katie?” A familiar voice came from the com. 

“Matt?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter! Thank you to all who have read it <3 This is my first fic so it have been nerve wrecking for me. Also, I know that in the show, Matt calls her Pidge, but I wanted this interaction since they don't see each other in this final scene, so I went with Katie instead. And who knows, I might continue on this :)


End file.
